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 700_files/rarrowsm.gif){kind=small} Collections under which this article
appears: 700_files/spacer.gif){kind=spacer} Adolescent
medicine Eating
disorders
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SHORT REPORT |
MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, 4, Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow, G12 8RZ, UK
Correspondence to:
Dr H Sweeting;
Accepted for publication 14 March 2002
Keywords: body weight; adolescence; gender
Among adults, women are more likely than men to perceive themselves as too heavy for their height, the gender discrepancy being greatest among those within a "normal" weight range. This finding has been explained in terms of the equation of female beauty with extreme thinness. As the physical changes of puberty are differentiated by gender, with males experiencing increased skeletal and muscle mass but females a gain in fat, this life stage has been seen as key for the development of female body dissatisfaction and associated problems such as lowered self esteem and eating disorders. In this analysis we compare changes in worries about putting on weight and dieting with actual body mass index at ages 11, 13, and 15.
METHODS
Data are from the West of Scotland
11 to 16 Study: Teenage Health, a longitudinal school based
survey of health and health behaviours in a cohort resident in and
around Glasgow.
Respondents were recruited in 1994–5 during their final year of
primary schooling (aged 11, n=2586, a response rate of 93% of the
issued sample). They were re-surveyed after the transition to
secondary school (aged 13, n=2371, 92% of the baseline sample) and
again during the final year of statutory education (aged 15,
n=2196, 85% of baseline).
Each survey took place in the school setting, normally under
examination type conditions. Self completion health and lifestyle
questionnaires included the items "Are you worried about putting
on weight?" and "Are you on a slimming diet to lose weight?" at
each age. Nurses helped with questionnaire completion if necessary,
conducted a short interview and recorded physical measurements
including height and weight, used in the calculation of body mass
index (kg/m2). A recent study, based on international
data, has identified centile curves for 2–18 year olds which,
at age 18 cross the widely used cut off point of 25 kg/m2
for adult overweight.
These age specific and gender specific cut off points were used to
define "overweight" respondents at each age. Overall, the prevalence
rates of "overweight" at the ages of 11, 13, and 15 were 16.2%,
16.5%, and 17.0% (see table 1 700_files/fig-down.gif){kind=small}
for separate male and female rates). Those with BMIs
below the 20th centile (by age and gender) were identified as
representing "lower" weight individuals.
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Table 1 700_files/fig-up.gif){kind=small}
shows that worries about putting on weight and
dieting were strongly associated with BMI for both genders.
However, overall rates differed markedly, being much higher for
females. In addition, the gender gap in weight related concerns was
greatest among those of "lower" and "middle" weights, the BMI by
gender interaction reaching a significant level for worries about
putting on weight at 13 and for dieting at 11 and 13 (approaching
significance for dieting at age 15).
While there were falls with age in the overall proportion of males worried about putting on weight (30% at 11, 23% at 15) and dieting (8% falling to 5%), the equivalent proportions of females increased steeply (44% rising to 70% worried about putting on weight; 11% rising to 26% dieting). The reduction in male, but increase in female concerns about weight with age, tended to occur regardless of BMI. Thus 30% of "overweight" males at age 11 reported they were dieting, compared with 16% at 15, the equivalent rates for females being 30% at 11 and 48% at 15 years. Finally, focusing on dieting at age 15, while under 3% of the combined "middle" and "lower" weight groups of males (BMI below 23.8) were dieting, this compares with 26% of "middle" (BMI range 19.0–24.1), and 8% of "lower" (BMI below 19.0) weight females.
DISCUSSION
Older males, even those
categorised as "overweight", seem more comfortable with their weight
than those at earlier stages of puberty. In contrast, the proportion
of females worried about putting on weight and reporting that they
have actually translated this into dieting behaviour, increases
during this life stage. Gender differences in weight related worries,
while significant at age 11, are huge by mid-adolescence. The paradox
of current concerns about the diet of young people coupled with
evidence for increasing BMIs, occurring within a culture that
values thinness, has received comment in both academic literature
and the media.
Against this background, our findings show the rapidity of the impact
that the physical changes of puberty have on female body image and
highlight the fine line that both media and health promotion messages
about an appropriate weight for height need to tread among this
particularly vulnerable age group.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to
thank Geoff Der for statistical advice, and Carol Emslie, Jacki
Gordon, Kate Hunt, Sally Macintyre and Katrina Turner for comments on
earlier drafts. Acknowledgements are also due to the young people,
teachers, schools, nurse interviewers, and all those from the MRC
Social and Public Health Sciences Unit involved in the study.
FOOTNOTES
Funding: Helen Sweeting and Patrick West are supported
financially by the Medical Research Council of Great Britain.
REFERENCES
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| Collections under which this article
appears:Adolescent
medicine Eating
disorders
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